Why I’m Cancelling the WWE Network . . . for now.

After this week’s Monday Night Raw I made the decision to cancel the WWE Network. I can usually put my trust in the company with storylines. In the past the road they’ve been on has been shaky but I’ve stuck it out, often with scant reward. But recent events culminated in an ideology I can’t be a party to. WWE doesn’t seem to care about Raw’s pathetic weekly ratings so the only place to make a stand is by removing my payment of 9.99.

The bone of my contention is the deformation of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. We all get that John Cena is the company’s main guy. I acknowledge without any gripes that this has been his year. He’s given the US Title credibility and in the process put over performers such as Cesaro and Kevin Owens. This should have existed while the main title looked strong and its champ – the supreme Seth Rollins – was given legitimacy. Never the twain shall meet.

But they did meet. There could have been other ways to get the belt back to Cena, beforehand they could have afforded Rollins one clean win over Super Cena. Now it is unclear the benefit of the whole Cena/Rollins program. Cena certainly doesn’t need a boost. It’s etched in the fans’ minds that he is the man that runs the place. All it’s done has made the World Champ looking like he’s only good enough to be top of the mid-card.

This is diabolical. Rollins on the mic has no equal right now, and in-ring he’s shown signs he could be not just the greatest of this generation but of all time. His reward for this is a match against Kane going into Hell in a Cell with a belt that’s now worthless.

This poor writing from WWE Creative – the best example of an oxymoron ever – will be masked by the interest in the PPV. Thanks to Undertaker and Brock Lesnar being on duty it’ll appear to be a successful event. In reality it will paper over the cracks.

This is the future of WWE: Poorly managed talent and badly written stories. But as long as the t-shirt sales stay up, kids are buying toys, and the Network bounces around 1.2m subscribers, Vince won’t make a change. Until then I won’t be sending him my ten British pounds each month.

Okay, I’ll probably crack before then. Maybe. Definitely Maybe.

Rollins needs the Rub

Heading into Night of Champions there’s one thing that has been universally agreed upon: Seth Rollins has been poorly booked during his run as WWE World Heavyweight Champion. There have been too many occasions The Authority’s chosen one has lost matches or been made to look weak. At tonight’s PPV the man with two belts deserves – and needs – to get put over.

Another thing that has also been repeatedly expressed is how good Rollins is, as both a performer, and on the mic. It’s part of playing the heel, to look slippery and win by any means possible. Dirty finishes are common place for villains. What’s become unacceptable is the number of times Rollins has been made to absorb an unnecessary loss. That’s what mid-card talent is for. If say, for example, Sting needs a win on Monday Night Raw, let him get that tap-out to someone lower down the card or a bit-part player like Big Show. Don’t make the champ take the hit.

It isn’t quite at the levels The Miz endured when he was champion. That reign did nothing other than damage his top tier card beyond repair. Rollins is too talented in-ring to allow this to happen. When creative have allowed him to shine he’s flourished. The match against John Cena for the US Title demonstrated he can look strong and be a heel. That match deserved a clean finish for the former Shield member.

Tonight it’s inevitable he’ll drop at least one of the belts. Many people in the run-up to the PPV have had their say on which superstar should leave with which title. Most have stated that Sheamus is probably cashing in tonight. There’s a chance that WWE Creative will swerve that angle now because it’s too obvious.

My personal feeling is that Rollins should be compensated by Creative for months of carrying the brand and getting scant reward. Okay, two belts is some reward, but his reputation is taking a hit. To cement his in-ring talent as legitimate they should allow him a clean victory over Cena. These two had great chemistry last time out and it would make sense in keeping with the story. Super Cena has been pushed to his limits and found a new level, it can be said afterward that this made the champion do the same. It’s a rub for both men.

If Rollins keeps the US Title then it stands to reason he’ll drop the main gold. This could be WWE’s thank you payment to Sting. He finally joined WWE to lose at his debut Wrestlemania to Triple H, who, while a strong talent over the years, is no Undertaker. To give him the last world strap he’s never had brings closure on a glittering career. If this does occur the commentary team can play up the war Rollins had been in with Cena and that Sting benefited from a fatigued defending champ.

What WWE cannot do is give anyone a clean win over Rollins, making him appear cowardly or throw him a cheap win. He should be made to look strong and when he loses he deserves to go out on his shield.

WWE Extreme Fools

The fools I refer to in this instance are, of course, WWE Creative. They managed to save a Wrestlemania Main Event, where the world was braced for the crowning of Roman Reigns, by giving us a good contest and a Seth Rollins cash-in. It played out perfectly and left viewers with a great sense of occasion.

Only WWE Creative has the ability to quickly undo all their good work. The slippery slope started at Extreme Rules. In a quick defence, it has to be acknowledged such a concept is hard to pull off in the PG era, but there are ways to get around it while providing plausible entertainment. To keep the theme relevant the envelope has to be pushed or shocks delivered.

There’s certainly no room for a “Kiss Me Arse” match. I’d argue this stipulation never needs to find its way to any card, let alone one that is supposed to be Extreme. But it’s what we got. To make matters worse they handed the victory to Ziggler and immediately halted Sheamus’s intimidating return. Already we know he’s not unstoppable.

The Russian Chain Match should have been renamed: Cena’s Continuing Chain of Wins over Rusev Match. WWE Creative has worked hard at removing all the fear surrounding the Bulgarian Brute. An extreme setting allows for an upset. Instead the action was very PG, the result very predictable. Thankfully we could look forward to an end of the rivalry. Oh wait, WWE wanted to drag it out to drive home how Super Cena had the number of Mother Russia.

You know a PPV is failing when Big Show takes plaudits for match of the night. That’s what happened at Extreme Rules as the always excellent Seth Rollins and the Viper couldn’t save a convoluted main event.

Payback offered WWE Creative the chance to do just this: pay us back for dropping the ball. Instead they further compounded certain problems and made new ones. They restarted the campaign to bury Damien Sandow. The Macho Man act was more than cringe. It was disrespectful to the legend that was and the man made to play “Macho Mandow.” Aaron Steven Haddad, the man who plays Damien Sandow, must have been caught with his pants down and in the wrong person’s wife. It could be argued Creative are playing to his comedic strengths and re-establishing The Ascension. But there were better ways to achieve these two aims.

Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler did provide us with a good match with a finish that would have better suited Extreme Rules. The two Brits, King Wade Bad News Barrett and (Adrian) Neville, had the weakest of their recent bouts but it was a great match regardless. It shows how good the two performers are. They have a good chemistry and fill the blanks in one another. A perfect balance. Like how Barrett has several forenames and Neville would be happy to be given just one. However, they shouldn’t be fighting one another, and so often, it devalues the winning streak and prowess of two wrestlers deserving of pushes.

Before you say Barrett has just been made King, the less we say about the revived tournament the better. King of the Ring deserves to be one night and less rushed. Much like Elimination Chamber which we’ll get to in a minute.

In the “I Quit” match Cena passed out and Rusev never actually said the words in English. But Super Cena got the rub and following episodes of Raw have tried their best to undermine Rusev. To make things worse Lana has now teamed with Ziggler. Dolph must be happy that after years of always delivering he’s back to the upper-mid card as an arm for a female object of attention.

Payback’s main event did deliver. We saw original Shield do the Triple Power Bomb. Creative avoided a finish that saw Ambrose take the pin for Seth. And the extra characters, J&J and Kane, added rather than took away from the action. A sign of hope moving to the chamber that all is not lost.

As for the Elimination Chamber, the card itself looks very healthy. What is worrying is how this great event (the structure always provides top matches) was removed on grounds of cost and modern arenas unable to lower and raise the chamber. Yet, out of the blue, it was reinstated. Not even the wrestlers knew until the eleventh hour. I understand plans have to be fluid, always ready for change. But this isn’t a tweak, more a complete change in programme. And the lack of time between PPVs has harmed the effective build-up. WWE Network figures, and the constant chase of them, shouldn’t give rise to knee-jerk reactions.

Still, this aside, as I mentioned, it is a good list of matches they’ve produced. New Day is over in a way Creative couldn’t have dared dream of when their original gimmick was failing so badly. The prospect of a Tag Team Chamber match is more than mouth watering. I suspect it will steal the show and could be a spectacle spoken about for years to come. Hats off to each performer too. They haven’t had months to work out the spots and the dynamic. It’s just a bunch of hungry guys throwing it all on the line.

Another hungry guy is Kevin Owens. He has been the man in NXT and gives Cena a credible opponent (after the more than credible Rusev). The fact he holds NXT gold means if (when) he loses to Cena at the Network exclusive PPV he won’t go down clean. It’ll be a beating for Cena afterwards. A painful one that could kayfabe injury him.

The Intercontinental match has a strong field. The money seems to be on Sheamus. This is logical. I expect a Ziggler/Rusev programme to start following this Sunday’s match, Barrett has the King moniker to carry around, Ryback is still suffering from the strange choice to pit him against the ever-at-loose-end Bray Wyatt, and R-Truth is just fun-filler.

The weaker matches are the Divas triple-threat match. The only threat regarding this championship is that the main roster looks weak compared to the female matches witnessed on NXT. This isn’t because the main roster has worse Divas, just weaker bookings. Neville and Bo Dallas has all the hallmarks of a clean win for Neville. It’s about time Dallas joined his real-life brother in the Wyatt Family.

The main event will provide a great wrestling match. Rollins and Ambrose always deliver when in the squared circle together. The questions are around the support cast. Will Reigns accidently cost Ambrose? How will The Authority intervene? It’s highly likely (like, 99.9%) that Rollins will keep the gold all the way to SummerSlam, a bout with a Beast awaits him there, but with the abilities on display in Elimination Chamber’s WWE World Heavyweight Championship match mean a few twists can still be delivered.

Let’s hope they make us smile and not groan.

Nothing New to Ce

WWE have managed to do the opposite of killing two birds with one stone, the old adage of eliminating problems, and reintroduced a bunch of old ones and lost the tools to fix them. Dolph Ziggler’s stand-out, coming-of-age, Survivor Series performance, the debut of the legendary Sting, and the removal of The Authority was all for nothing. The stipulation that only John Cena could bring them back had numerous angles that could have been played over time. Instead we didn’t get anything fresh. This is ironic because Cena himself has been stale for a long time. WWE should have killed two birds with one stone – they should have turned Cena heel.

The Superman Cena gimmick has run its course. Sure, kids still chant “Let’s go Cena!” and this shifts enough merchandise for WWE decision makers to ignore the “Cena sucks!” retorts. Undoubtedly there was good reason to squeeze every last bit of life from this set-up. But it’s done now. Not even the staunchest of Cena fans can really be looking forward to his next bout with Lesnar. Cena keeps getting these gigs because they clearly don’t trust any other stars to play the main babyface of the company. It’s time they took a leap of faith on one.

They can’t take a full leap while Cena is still the super powered hero that kids love to cheer. The Daniel Bryan Yes Movement had the potential to offer a healthy alternative, and may do again now he’s back from injury. Even a successful emergence from another star doesn’t address the main problem: Cena’s act is tired. Hulkamania had run its course after a pioneering period in the 80s. Our wrestling heroes eventually become the ones we’ve seen enough of. Hulk Hogan realised this and requested he became the third member of the nWo. The rest is history.

Hogan protected the Hulkamania gimmick by donning black and becoming Hollywood Hulk Hogan. The same could have been done with Cena. He could have stepped away from “Loyalty, Hustle, Respect” and freshened up his act. The best heels are the ones that are mighty and powerful, without the need for cheating. The nWo walked over everyone. They were dominant. Cena could have played that type of heel. Super Cena would be exciting again. Those booing adults would start to cheer.

The story to turn him would have been simple and believable enough. We know from Total Divas that he’s dating Nikki Bella, the heel female wrestler. He could have said he’d had enough of the woman he loves taking the brunt of hatred from the WWE Universe. That the place had become lawless since The Authority had been removed, that it was time to bring back some order. As a bonus you’d have a Shield 2.0 with Rollins and Cena, add another of your choice. You could even throw in a turned Hogan to endorse the new Cena’s mindset. It’d generate heat like we’ve never seen before. Cena would be relevant again.

Overtime the new Cena could slowly edge back toward face by way of the anti-hero angle. Those booing adults that were now cheering would see him as this generation’s Stone Cold Steve Austin. His eventual turn against The Authority would rehabilitate his character, one that’d never have to be so worn out ever again.

There’s some sense of perfect symmetry to this. Cena is often cited as the PG generation’s Hulk Hogan, it’d be good to see his gimmick give a nod to the man that replaced Hogan at the top of the mountain, Steve Austin. Instead we get more of the same. WWE retreading the same old paths, John Cena becoming more antiquated with every moment of TV time. A great opportunity lost.

Remember when Titles Had Meaning?

Currently in WWE the World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar makes fewer public appearances than Bin Laden did before his demise. As such the main belt is void of screen time, an act that threatens to devalue it. The second tier titles, the United States and Intercontinental championships, should have been used to cover the gap. Instead these once illustrious titles have been floundered further by WWE creative. It used to be so different. It used to be so much better.

Regardless of storylines and the characters involved, during the boom periods of sports entertainment championship gold meant everything. The gravitas of results revolved around which side of a rivalry ended the night with a belt held aloft. From the dawn of the new brand of wrestling, sports entertainment as we now know it, in the 80s, personalities that transcended the ring and fell into popular culture came into being. Characters like Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior. Their defining moment came at the start of 1990 when WWF champion, Hogan, faced the Intercontinental Champion, The Warrior, at Wrestlemania VI.

What added to the bout, one already soaked in electricity, was the two main titles. It was like a pro-wrestling unification bout, the type only seen before in boxing rings. Hard to call, a unique chance to see the two great titles face off. The belts weren’t an added gimmick, they were revered and desired. They made a win all the more credible. Of course, Warrior triumphed that night, vacated the I/C title, but not before holding both belts high above his head with pride.

Moving through the 90s the titles still had great value. So much so that Vince screwed Bret (or Bret screw Bret, depending on your take) to keep his main belt from appearing on WCW television. An era when the WWF Womens Championship was dumped in a bin on WCW Nitro by Medusa, a shock at the time, a title that disappeared without fanfare. Before that The British Bulldog defeated Bret Hart for the Intercontinental Title in a packed-out Wembley Arena. That was when 90,000 Brits believed it was a belt worth holding. Nowadays it’s a tool to place a ceiling on the mid-card.

Back then belts were an extension of a performer’s power, a visual representation that validated them, never better emphasised than when Ric Flair brought the Big Gold Belt from WCW to WWF. Now they feel like awkward afterthoughts. Something the WWE hates to accommodate but does so to shift kids’ replica merchandise. The last time they had genuine importance was after the Invasion storyline. They went to great lengths to enforce how important championship gold was. They had, after all, just bought WCW’s history; they had to drive home how important each championship aspect was. It culminated in belts becoming unified, separated, and unified some more.

For example, Chris Jericho became the first unified champ by holding the WWF belt and WCW world heavyweight title. That became the unified belt and then singular WWF title again. Due to the brand extension they soon brought the big gold belt back, in doing so it saw the I/C title, US title, European Championship and the Hardcore Championship all being unified, across a period of time from Survivor Series 2001 to No Mercy 2002, into the World Heavyweight Championship. The US and I/C titles did re-emerge at Judgement Day 2003, but by then the stage had been set to devalue the once highly regarded belts.

Recently we saw the World Heavyweight Championship – the Big Gold Belt’s ghost title – unified again, this time by Randy Orton. WWE tried to remind us the great lineage of both titles, successfully reminding us how mistreated all the current titles have been in recent years. Now Lesnar holds the belt without making any appearances for months. I’m all for the main belt having reduced screen time. It makes it feel more special. But an absence of one month is enough. One PPV, tops. Never more than this. It should be defended at every monthly event that requires subscribers to pay more or headlines the network during that period. Now the WWE World Heavyweight Title doesn’t feel special, it feels unnecessary.

In its absence the secondary titles could have been used to fill the void. It was a great chance to return their former value. The higher mid-card could have evolved to the main event scene, like Warrior did with his I/C title in 1990. With the I/C title becoming the new top title, the US champ could have become a good number two, like the Intercontinental title of years gone by.

Instead we witnessed Sheamus holding the belt without ever really defending it. It was prop, not authentic. And Ziggler went on a losing streak while holding I/C gold. Even though he was the holder of such an illustrious title, there was no way WWE creative could allow him to overcome Seth Rollins. In doing so they told the viewers that the I/C champ was good, but not that good. That a higher level existed beyond the title.

To enforce this, Ziggler himself overcame the current holder, Luke Harper, this week on Smackdown. Telling us that Ziggler is now in the top group. The Intercontinental Championship should be validation of the top group by them holding it, not by the champ jobbing to them. Top tier and the upper mid-card shouldn’t face off on regular programming, especially to the detriment of titles. Only Rusev holding the US title has stemmed the tide for now.

The WWE needs to address its current title problem. It’ll take time but the long term benefits are worth the efforts required to restructure its current stance. Would a ladder match for the I/C title tomorrow have the same aurora as Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon did? No. And it’s not for a lack of talent, but the title has zero importance now. Does anyone actually care who the WWE Champion is now? No. And it’s not because WWE lacks main event star power. Better titles creates bigger buzz around PPVs. Prestige on the belt gives holders a step closer to immortality, and instant validation with the WWE Universe.

A competition without a main prize isn’t sport at all. It’s not even entertainment.

Out of Nowhere!

They say a week is a long time in football (soccer to American readers) and that can be applied to life in the WWE. Never better expressed than the resurgence of Randy Orton. To such a degree even BBC Sport reported Dundee players celebrating a recent goal by imitating Orton’s famous finisher, the RKO ("Randy Orton: Dundee celebrate goal with WWE move"). It comes off the back of videos and Vines that went viral online, each depicting real-life slips but with The Viper superimposed applying the killer move. It put Orton over in a whole new way. Suddenly the third-generation superstar transcends sports entertainment.

Before the 20^th October Monday Night Raw, not many people had the stomach for another Orton/Cena clash. The match had no relevance. Orton had drifted – through no fault of his own – during his reign as the first WWE World Heavyweight Champion. It was doomed after poor scripting, the idea he was ‘first’ to hold both belts when we all remember Chris Jericho unifying the titles, and being overshadowed by Daniel Bryan’s emergence. Since then he has been part of The Authority. Out of the main title mix, seemingly far away from a shot at the MIA Brock Lesnar.

Then it all changed. Those Vines must have helped. Exposure is always a good thing. Initially the idea of presenting Cena or Orton with a shot at gold, when many saw their match behind Ambrose and Rollins, was absurd. What nobody foresaw was the fire that had been lit beneath Randy. Getting attention gives anyone a boost, combined with the spotlight being thrust back on him, a fresh version of the Apex Predator emerged. This is usually unheard of for established stars. Once a main character is formed it goes stale (can you ever see Cena changing now or The Rock altering his act?).

Delivering multiple RKOs was a must after the recent internet sensation. Giving one to sirs Cena and Heyman ensured the fight at Hell in a Cell had extra spice, and the one he gets afterward (hopefully Lesnar) suddenly got personal. Combining this with tensions surrounding Seth Rollins reaching a crescendo, should ensure he’s about to break out on his own once again.

WWE needs to build on the new public awareness surrounding the RKO. Down the line I’d like to see him counter Brock Lesnar’s F5 for the title win. Before this he needs to shown popping unexpected RKOs off everywhere. Not just in-ring, or backstage, but vignettes filmed from real-life set-ups. Let’s see him drop people in shopping malls and banks; movie theatres or as a spectator at sports games. When something is hot, use it. Make videos and clips the way WWE managed in the attitude era. Orton is now over with the fans, and this is before a face turn. They shouldn’t drop the ball like they have done, and keep doing, with so many other stars.

This week he described himself as ‘Third generation royalty,’ it’s time to make Randy Orton a powerful King. Most fans have had their fill of Cena, Bryan is injured and Reigns isn’t ready yet for main event status. As for Ambrose and Rollins – they’d be good to offer a challenge to a newly crowned Viper.

Best of the RKO Vines YouTube Link